matzah
Passover begins at sundown tonight and ends at sundown on April 30. Passover (Pesach) celebrates the freedom of Jews from Egyptian slavery. During Passover, Jews cannot eat any leavened bread, but they can eat unleavened bread called matzah. Children could read the chapter about Passover from Celebrate! Stories of the Jewish Holidays, written by Gilda Berger and illustrated by Peter Catalanotto.
Earth Day is today! This year’s theme is Invest in Our Planet. The original theme was Invest in Our Planet. Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970. Today is a good day to plant trees or clean up litter or build a compost pile or make a bird house or…Children could learn more at: Earth Day. Children could also read Earth Day – Hooray! by Stuart J. Murphy. The book incorporates some great math concepts with an emphasis on the environment.
Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil in 1500. Brazil was claimed by Portugal, and it is the only South American country where Portuguese is the principal language.
Oklahoma Land Rush
Oklahoma Land Rush began at twelve noon 1889 when the government opened 1,900,000 acres of land bought from the Creek and Seminole Indians. People raced to obtain the best plots of land. By evening 50,000 people had established home sites in the region. Children could learn more at an excellent primary resource: Land Rush. They could also research the differences between a “sooner” and a “boomer.”
Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth made his pitching debut in 1914 when his team, the minor league Baltimore Orioles, defeated the Buffalo Bison 6-0. Children could learn more at: Babe Ruth.
Borge Ousland, a Norwegian explorer, became the first person to trek to the North Pole solo in 1994. He left Cape Atkticheskiy, Siberia, on March 2, 1994. He averaged about 19 miles a day over the 630-mile trip.
Eileen Christelow (born Washington, DC, 1943) has written and illustrated at least 31 books for children. Her works include the Five Little Monkeys series and Where’s the Big Bad Wolf. Children can visit her very interesting website at: http://www.christelow.com/.
Paula Fox (born New York, New York, 1923; died Brooklyn, New York, March 1, 2017) wrote about 20 books for children. One of her books, The Slave Dancer, earned the 1974 Newbery Medal. She received the very prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1978 for her body of works.
Yehudi Menuhin (born New York, New York, 1916; died Berlin, Germany, March 12, 1999) was a renowned violinist. Idea: Children could find out how a violin makes sounds.